It is a common agricultural practice to bale animal forage, such as hay, into generally rectangular bales to facilitate the handling and storage of the hay. Hay baling machines pick up the hay from windrows and compress the hay into dense tightly packed bales that are held together with a plurality of cords or twine. During the baling process, the stems of the hay are substantially aligned generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the bale. When the twine holding the bale together is removed, the baled hay will not fall apart and will generally stay together into a continuous mass or a series of interlocking portions. The bale of hay must be separated before it can be presented to livestock mixing and feeding equipment and livestock. Machines that break up or cut up the hay generate considerable airborne particulates and dust and are environmentally incompatible with human working conditions as well as the livestock. The machines also separate the leaves from the stems and render the hay unpalatable to livestock.
Machines having a plurality of endless chain type cutters have been used to cut up bales of hay into small pieces. E. L. Benno in U.S. Pat. No. 3,612,127 discloses a hay bale cutter having a housing supporting a plurality of endless chain cutters that are continuously driven to cut up a bale of hay placed on the machine. D. Montano and E. Montano in U.S. Pat. No. 5,017,399 discloses a machine having a plurality of circular power driven and rotary saws oriented to cut the moving bale into sections that are more easily distributed to and eaten by livestock. This machine is relatively large and requires considerable power to drive the rotary saws.